Animated Gifs Versus Flash Movement
Here we will discuss the differences between animated gifs and the use of Flash. Let’s start off by distinguishing the two. Shockwave Flashes/Small Web Format and Shockwave Flash (also known as SWF) is a more of an advanced method for publishing animated and/or streaming content on the web, while animated GIF’s are smaller and shorter animations consisting of frames put together in motion.
So how do you choose which one to use? Let’s take a more in-depth look at the options. An animated movie in Flash may look exactly the same as an animated movie in GIF format if you have any user options, buttons, interactivity, etc. Those options simply cannot be played in an animated GIF. A GIF is nothing but a series of static images that are put together to create an animated picture. If you need or want the ability for your users to interact, then a Flash SWF is the way to go.
However, if you think that less than half of your visitors will have the Flash player and/or would be willing to download it, then you may be better off using an animated GIF instead. While Flash requires a plugin to play, animated GIFs will automatically run in any browser and may target more visitors than using Flash. Here’s a question to also think about:
Are you going to be using or needing audio? If so, then you will need to stay in SWF format since animated GIFs are image-only and audio can not be added to them. If you are not using audio, then the SWF format isn’t really necessary (especially if you don’t need something interactive for your visitors), as both the SWF and GIF will accomplish the same ends in playing soundless animation.
While GIF’s used to be the only way to go in the past, SWF is now currently the more dominant format for displaying animated vector graphics on the web and chances are, your visitors will most likely already have the necessary plug-ins for SWF’s to display correctly.
Now, there are two different types of animated gifs:
1) The first is a frame by frame animation, where each frame is its own image.
2) The second seems to be a smarter animated gif, one that only shows the change from the previous frame.
Knowing what exactly SWF’s and GIF’s both have to offer, and the pros and cons of each option, it is now up to you to decide which one would better suit you and your website, but most importantly, which option would be best for your visitors!
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More on animated gifs:
How to Make an Animated Gif from a Video Clip
I immediately found Glickr and was excited because I thought all I would have to was input the URL to the video and that the utility would create the animated gif. Unfortunately, Glickr threw a nasty php error and didn’t work. …
How To Get High Quality Animated Gif In Flash
Tutorial how to export high quality gif from flash.
Easy GIF Animator supports all types of GIF animation. Features include built-in image editor, banner wizard and animated-button wizard. You can also save animation in SWF Flash format and add sound to your animation files. …
Posted: Thursday, November 8th, 2007 @ 5:50 pm
Categories: graphic design
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